American Politics Discussion

[Dr. Gonzo]

Just now, Tommy said:

*Aliens invade*
"Let us speak to your most powerful man" 

Us:

Aliens: never mind, we're going back home.

[Viva la FCB+]

48 minutes ago, Tommy said:

*Aliens invade*
"Let us speak to your most powerful man" 

Us:

Peak. Male. Form. 

[Spike]

1 hour ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

I know very few Trump voters, tbh. I'm in coastal California, so I'm in a bit of a bubble. The people I know that did vote for Trump really don't follow politics all that closely and believe a lot of shit they see on social media and distrust regular news (whether it's online, tv, newspaper, books). It's maybe 3-4 people; they all said the biggest issue for them was inflation and the cost of living. I tried explaining to them that Trump's proposed policies, namely the tariffs, are only going to increase both of those. They didn't care - they just saw things get more expensive once Biden was president and remember pre-pandemic prices and want a return to that.

I'm pretty sure everyone around the world wants a return to the cost of living pre-pandemic... but hey... it is what it is.

@Spike, @Coma, & @Cicero might be able to give you a different perspective. Although Spike's in Chicago, so he might be in even more of a bubble than I am in San Diego - although idk too much about where he's living in Chicago so no idea if that's true or not. I'm pretty sure Coma's from a swing state or a state that could potentially be a swing state if there's the right issues on a ballot - so he might have a more accurate answer on the pulse of America. And idk where Cicero is at, but he's been pretty good at giving a pulse on some things in the US. He's not been very active lately though.

I also lived in in Atlanta for three years @Gunnersaurus. Most people I’ve met Atlanta or Chicago, it’s always economic. I always heard ‘He will run the country like a business’; I guarantee that’s the most common reason, of course these aren’t the sort of people to go to rallies; those are the rabid evangelicals he has courted, frothing from the mouth about immigrants or whatever-the-fuck.

[Devil-Dick Willie]

Unfortunately nations aren't businesses, and using strong arm strategies (his Phil's bald head tariffs) will only harm the USA short and long term. Also he'll 'end the war' in Ukraine by pulling all support from Ukraine and then telling them they have to give Russia Luhansk and Donbass, which is exactly what Putin wants because the sanctions on russia will lift.

[Coma+]

Trump voters who think he'll run the country like a business have forgotten how many times his businesses have filed for bankruptcy.

@Dr. Gonzo Ohio isn't much of a swing state anymore... it's been red for the past 3 elections iirc.  I think we went blue for both of Obama's terms. 

@Gunnersaurus I live on the outskirts of a metro region but my county always votes overwhelmingly Republican so my vote gets swallowed up.  The majority of my coworkers vote Republican, although during this past election many of them were torn after seeing how bad Trump's first term went.  

I voted for Bernie in the Democratic primary when he was up against Hillary but that was a lost cause considering she and the Dems sabotaged his campaign.

[Dr. Gonzo]

1 hour ago, Coma said:

Trump voters who think he'll run the country like a business have forgotten how many times his businesses have filed for bankruptcy.

The guy bankrupt a fuckin' casino 

[Viva la FCB+]

The latest Matt Gaetz stuff is just fascinating. The house ethics commitee was to take a vote on releasing a report into Gaetz but theres been a few wrinkles. A little background its a republican run committee that doubled down to further investigate Gaetz into the sex with minor/trafficking allegations. They dove into it further even after Garland tucked his balls between his legs and declined to investigate Gaetz. Gaetz led the charge to oust previous speaker of the house Kevin McCarthy when McCarthy refused to stop the commitee from investigating him. Well now that the commitee was on the verge of the vote Gaetz resigned from the house which means the investigation would cease as hes no longer a member of the house. They can however still release the report and their findings but we'll see if that happens. This comes on the heals of Trump announcing Gaetz is set to be his AG. yes shocker donald duck loves and rewards all those loyal to him, doesnt matter how deplorable a human they are.

[Stan]

On 13/11/2024 at 23:15, Dr. Gonzo said:

Aliens: never mind, we're going back home.

Or other aliens be like:

 

[Dr. Gonzo]

18 hours ago, Viva la FCB said:

The latest Matt Gaetz stuff is just fascinating. The house ethics commitee was to take a vote on releasing a report into Gaetz but theres been a few wrinkles. A little background its a republican run committee that doubled down to further investigate Gaetz into the sex with minor/trafficking allegations. They dove into it further even after Garland tucked his balls between his legs and declined to investigate Gaetz. Gaetz led the charge to oust previous speaker of the house Kevin McCarthy when McCarthy refused to stop the commitee from investigating him. Well now that the commitee was on the verge of the vote Gaetz resigned from the house which means the investigation would cease as hes no longer a member of the house. They can however still release the report and their findings but we'll see if that happens. This comes on the heals of Trump announcing Gaetz is set to be his AG. yes shocker donald duck loves and rewards all those loyal to him, doesnt matter how deplorable a human they are.

Many senators are demanding the report. I'm pretty sure it's all democrats though, not republicans... so it's essentially meaningless lol

[6666]

On 14/11/2024 at 20:18, Coma said:

I voted for Bernie in the Democratic primary when he was up against Hillary but that was a lost cause considering she and the Dems sabotaged his campaign.

That was a crazy time that exposed how the Democrats operate and I think that's really the foundation that modern progressives have built their opinions of the Democrats on. There are those that they'd consider "one of their own" and those that they look at as unrealistic, idealistic outsiders while still using the image of those outsiders to launder their own image.

[Dr. Gonzo]

19 hours ago, 6666 said:

That was a crazy time that exposed how the Democrats operate and I think that's really the foundation that modern progressives have built their opinions of the Democrats on. There are those that they'd consider "one of their own" and those that they look at as unrealistic, idealistic outsiders while still using the image of those outsiders to launder their own image.

I think modern progressives need to look at the ultimate problem in their lack of representation in US politics - the two party system - and start working to fix that broken nonsense for them to have an actual chance at taking the reigns of the US. Progressive policies are popular, even considering how generally conservative the American electorate is.

The problem is they have just a tiny voice in one of the two very pro-corporate interest right wing parties that dominate the United States political arena.

And one of their loudest voices is Bernie Sanders - a man who is not a part of the democratic party. He's an independent senator, not a democrat - he just caucuses with them all the time because they are the more sane of the two dominant political parties in the US. One of the other loudest progressive voices in US politics is Ocasia-Cortez - and in a normal functional democracy she would not be in the same centre-right party the democrats are.

States get to pick their own voting rules, so the opportunity to actually get more progressive policies implemented at the federal level is having progressives start taking the power at the state level.

The problem there is, it's a very uphill battle for progressives in the US. Public opinion is shaped by the media - whether it's traditional media or social media. So that's US media shaped by traditional media owned by right wing billionaires and social media owned by right wing billionaires. So the messaging amongst the general voting public will always be something that is anti any truly progressive policies. So you need something very rare in a politician to make it work. Someone smart enough to successfully get their message to connect with people on social media despite the general narrative being against them. Someone eloquent who can explain complex things in a way that makes them easy to understand. And someone who plays well and is tough for an unfriendly media to attack - because any gaffe will be seized on by the media and used relentlessly as a weapon to kill the popularity of anyone against the interests of the very rich. They essentially need a team of Bernie Sanderses.

They've got an uphill battle, but that's really the best pathway to breaking the shitty political system of the US. Even "deep blue" states are lacking many progressive voices and still use the shitty first past the post voting system, when ranked choice would ultimately lead to more progressive options actually getting seats.

And until progressives have a pathway to getting in candidates they'd support at a federal level, they've got two shitty choices in the centre-right democratic party & the right wing republican party. I think a better choice than not voting is picking the least bad of 2 bad picks tbh.

[Cicero]

On 13/11/2024 at 17:10, Dr. Gonzo said:

I know very few Trump voters, tbh. I'm in coastal California, so I'm in a bit of a bubble. The people I know that did vote for Trump really don't follow politics all that closely and believe a lot of shit they see on social media and distrust regular news (whether it's online, tv, newspaper, books). It's maybe 3-4 people; they all said the biggest issue for them was inflation and the cost of living. I tried explaining to them that Trump's proposed policies, namely the tariffs, are only going to increase both of those. They didn't care - they just saw things get more expensive once Biden was president and remember pre-pandemic prices and want a return to that.

I'm pretty sure everyone around the world wants a return to the cost of living pre-pandemic... but hey... it is what it is.

@Spike, @Coma, & @Cicero might be able to give you a different perspective. Although Spike's in Chicago, so he might be in even more of a bubble than I am in San Diego - although idk too much about where he's living in Chicago so no idea if that's true or not. I'm pretty sure Coma's from a swing state or a state that could potentially be a swing state if there's the right issues on a ballot - so he might have a more accurate answer on the pulse of America. And idk where Cicero is at, but he's been pretty good at giving a pulse on some things in the US. He's not been very active lately though.

Been saying for ages swing voters were going to favor Trump this time around. People have endured real hardships these past few years, and Harris publicly saying she wouldn't change a thing after being asked if she would've done anything differently under Biden is what really ruined her. The GOP ran with that. Why elect someone to fulfil these promises when she's already in office not doing so? Harris to the general public just didn't seem authentic. It's actually amusing that the more celebrities that endorsed her, the less popular she got. She didn't really target the voters that she needed. Cardi B and Jennifer Lopez telling us who to vote for doesn't really resonate with the common Midwest blue collar worker for example. 

General consensus was that people knew what they were getting with Trump. With Harris, it was up in the air. 

 

[Viva la FCB+]

Ethics committee voted not to release the Gaetz probe naturally. Pretty breaking news as Gaetz has withdrawn from AG consideration citing it being a distraction for the transition of the Trump administration. 

[Dr. Gonzo]

8 hours ago, Viva la FCB said:

Ethics committee voted not to release the Gaetz probe naturally. Pretty breaking news as Gaetz has withdrawn from AG consideration citing it being a distraction for the transition of the Trump administration. 

Probably just an elaborate plan to kill the ethics committees report & let him get a cushy job at Fox News.

[Viva la FCB+]

13 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Probably just an elaborate plan to kill the ethics committees report & let him get a cushy job at Fox News.

Apparently I misread, their vote is in a stalemate, the Dems on the commitee vs the Republicans are locked, someone will have to cross one way or another for a decision. Whats his fuck the speaker came and talked to the Republicans on the commitee before the vote naturally though. Its funny because clearly if the report exonerated Gaetz they would release it no problem. I just dont understand how people like this can be protected. 

[Spike]

Excluding the Libertarian Party, I wonder which party has the most nonces.

[OrangeKhrush]

On 14/11/2024 at 09:29, Devil-Dick Willie said:

Unfortunately nations aren't businesses, and using strong arm strategies (his Phil's bald head tariffs) will only harm the USA short and long term. Also he'll 'end the war' in Ukraine by pulling all support from Ukraine and then telling them they have to give Russia Luhansk and Donbass, which is exactly what Putin wants because the sanctions on russia will lift.

I get what you say about Ukraine and it is a kick in the teeth,  but without NATO going to war Ukraine dont need weapons they need personnel.   As we speak Ukraine has lost over 240kms of territory across the line and there is now genuine fear that Ukraines defense is going to capitulate.   Without boots on the ground those weapons will end up in Putins hands.

The only show of support was to go to war but nobody seems keen on that so once again an opportunity squandered.  Like afghanistan its 3 years of indecision and fearing tyrants that sealed Ukraine's fate.   

Iraq is on the agenda but for another time

[Dr. Gonzo]

Shame on the US media for not publishing this: https://www.kenklippenstein.com/p/luigis-manifesto

[Devil-Dick Willie]

So after hiding the report on Matt Gaetz for ages (which is obviously incriminating because if it exonerated him they'd have released it immediately) an ethics committee released that they found evidence that he paid for underage sex and drugs. No surprises. 

But here is the problem with the world and the road we're travelling as a society. 
Here are, VERBATUM the top comments on the news from sky news Australia. So yes right wing but not cultish Americans. 

 

Quote

No evidence, just political acvusations. Nothingburger

Congress releasing an ethics report is comical.

How many Democrat are on the panel

Sadly most of the rest of congress is way worse. He was targeted for fighting business as usual corruption in congress.

 

The system of checks and balances that hold all politicians and celebrities to accountability will fail because of the following propositions that the Republican supporters use

1. My team never does wrong and never lies
2. We don't need evidence for any claim
3. The left requires an absurdly high standard of evidence to make any claim
4. All evidence the left has are lies and scientific misrepresentations, because my team never does wrong and never lies

The slipperiest slope in modern politics is upon us.  

[6666]

Trump trying to pressure Denmark into selling Greenland. Wheeling out classic Americanisms.

"For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity."

[Dr. Gonzo]

On 23/12/2024 at 20:17, Devil-Dick Willie said:

So after hiding the report on Matt Gaetz for ages (which is obviously incriminating because if it exonerated him they'd have released it immediately) an ethics committee released that they found evidence that he paid for underage sex and drugs. No surprises. 

But here is the problem with the world and the road we're travelling as a society. 
Here are, VERBATUM the top comments on the news from sky news Australia. So yes right wing but not cultish Americans. 

 

The system of checks and balances that hold all politicians and celebrities to accountability will fail because of the following propositions that the Republican supporters use

1. My team never does wrong and never lies
2. We don't need evidence for any claim
3. The left requires an absurdly high standard of evidence to make any claim
4. All evidence the left has are lies and scientific misrepresentations, because my team never does wrong and never lies

The slipperiest slope in modern politics is upon us.  

I really don't understand the right wing outside America that want to white wash the crimes of the American right wing. Other than the fact they see kindred spirits who they don't think should be held accountable for anything.

It's disturbing though. I like Bernie Sanders, he's just about the only US politician I have any time for. If it came out he was fucking underaged prostitutes, I'd want the book thrown at him. Because morality should come before standing by a "political ally."

These people, though, just don't have that kind of moral compass. They're honestly worse than the blinded football supporters who'll stand by rapist players just because they play for the club they like - because in the situation you're describing it's fuckin' Australians who should have no skin in the game with regards to America releasing an ethics report on an unethical congressman. It simply doesn't impact their lives at all.

The MAGA mindset is very interesting because it's definitely spread worldwide now. These people view Trump's support as allies of Farage's gaggle of idiots, the German Neo-Nazis in AfD, France's surviving Nazi-sympathiser party National Front, and various other groups of far right bullshit all around the west. They also fuckin' love Orban's Hungary, which is the shame of the EU & have their dicks hard for Putin, a war criminal that makes George W Bush look like someone with a soul. I think the world's in for a rough time with these morons around trying to create a global alliance of far-right bullshit.

On 24/12/2024 at 20:30, 6666 said:

Trump trying to pressure Denmark into selling Greenland. Wheeling out classic Americanisms.

"For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity."

He did the same shit in his first term, not really surprising.

I think what is the most surprising is that he wants Canada and Mexico to be US states.

[MUFC]

 

[Harry]

I think that whole video was made by AI

[Dr. Gonzo]

Fun weekend watching the Musk side of MAGA vs. the traditional side of MAGA fight about what kind of immigration they are for/against.

Then having Musk call traditional MAGA mentally disabled, and Trump taking his side.

[Devil-Dick Willie]

11 hours ago, Dr. Gonzo said:

Fun weekend watching the Musk side of MAGA vs. the traditional side of MAGA fight about what kind of immigration they are for/against.

Then having Musk call traditional MAGA mentally disabled, and Trump taking his side.

The capitalist right meets the nationalist right. Musk and Trump don't care about your nationalist values, they want money for themselves and their friends. Racist right wing nationalists are useful idiots who are easy to control as long as you throw them the odd bone. As soon as they get in the way through decrying your use of foreign skilled labor because they're cheaper and will put up with employer abuse, then they're no longer useful and are an obstacle to profit.